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Sports & Leisure

The nation's passion for sports is obvious every day—at NASCAR races, kiddie soccer matches, and countless other contests. From a handball used by Abraham Lincoln to Chris Evert's tennis racket to a baseball signed by Jackie Robinson, the roughly 6.000 objects in the Museum's sports collections bear witness to the vital place of sports in the nation's history. Paper sports objects in the collections, such as souvenir programs and baseball cards, number in the hundreds of thousands.

Leisure collections encompass a different range of objects, including camping vehicles and gear, video games, playing cards, sportswear, exercise equipment, and Currier and Ives prints of fishing, hunting, and horseracing. Some 4,000 toys dating from the colonial period to the present are a special strength of the collections.

This steel, whistling yo-yo was made by Festival in the 1960s. It has a black and yellow checkered design on both sides and is called 'The Screamer" as two small air holes create a screaming sound effect when spun. The decal reads “Festival Screamer YoYo.”

This metal yo-yo was made by the Gorham Manufacturing Company in the 1970s. It has flat sides and a sterling silver shell. The yo-yo features an ornate repousse leaf pattern and is engraved at the center. The Gorham Manufacturing Company was originally founded in Rhode Island in 1831 as a sterling silver maker.

This steel yo-yo was made by the Oriental Trading Company in the 1990s. This yo-yo has flat sides and a red, white, and blue American flag design on both halves. The Oriental Trading Company, begun as a gift shop in Omaha, is a large wholesale company that sells arts and crafts, toys and novelties.

This wooden yo-yo was made by Duncan Toys Company in the 1960s. It is black on one half and red on the other. A Duncan Beginners Yo-Yo, it is part of a line made since the 1930s. Yo-Yos from this line are usually wooden with pegged strings. This example features a very early image of Duncan's mascot “Mr. Yo-Yo.”

This wooden yo-yo was made by the Duncan Toys Company in the 1950s. It is made of wood and has one black side and one red side. This is a "Beginners Yo-Yo," which were less expensive than the company's tournament models.

This wooden yo-yo was made by Duncan Toys Company during the 1930s-1940s. It is black with a printed gold label and black lettering. Duncan “Big G” Genuine yo-yos such as this were required for official Duncan contests in the early 1930s.

This wooden yo-yo was made by the Duncan Toys Company in the 1940s. It has plain red and yellow halves advertising Rainbo brand bread. Yo-Yos were often used as advertising tools throughout the 20th century.

This wooden yo-yo was made by the Duncan Toys company from 1956-1959. The overall crackle design was created through a double-coat painting process. The sticker reads “Duncan ‘Litening’ Yo-Yo Top”. This was one of the first yo-yos to be packaged and sold upon a blister card.